Summer is here and it’s time for those summer day trips and holidays. To get far safely you need to make sure that your car is ready to go and filled up with fuel. One important aspect of car safety is making sure your tyres are in good condition. Always check your tyres before a journey. Some of the checks are easy to do yourself but it’s best to get tyres checked at a garage regularly too so choosing a local tyre expert is important. Here are five reasons why you should have your tyres checked locally before you hit the road:
1. Wear and tear
Always check your tyres weekly and especially before a journey for signs of wear or tear such as bulging, cuts and tears to the tyre. If you spot anything unusual take your vehicle to your local garage for them to check it. it’s very dangerous to drive with damaged tyres.
2. Out of Your Tread Depth
All car tyres are required to have a minimum tread depth of 1.6mm. This can be checked by using a tread depth gauge (keep this in your glove box) or a 20p coin. Check the depth in at least three different places on the tyre as tyres don’t wear evenly. You can also check the tread wear indicators found between the grooves of the thread. Worn tyres are a safety risk and against the law. I’d recommend you get your tyres checked by a professional locally and replace them before they reach the minimum legal tread depth. If you are looking for a reliable centre for tyres (checking or replacements) in areas like London or others, it is easy to search at Point S.
3. Under Pressure
Over a third of accidents in the UK that were caused by vehicle defects were due to under-deflated, defected or illegal tyres. That’a a third of accidents that could have been prevented by a trip to the local tyre garage. Under-inflated tyres can lead to overheating, poor handling and even a blow out. Check your vehicle handbook to find the correct pressure needed for your car and tyres and regularly check this. Thankfully modern cars have sensors so this can be checked with ease but if in any doubt visit your local tyre expert who will check the pressure and inflate/deflate accordingly.
4. Rotate
As I mentioned earlier tyres wear unevenly. One way to make your tyres last longer is to have them regularly rotated. This involves removing and swapping around your current set of tyres. Although I know how to change a tyre in an emergency, I prefer to get my local garage to do this for me. It’s a lot faster and easier to rotate the tyres while the car is elevated and a mechanic will often align and balance the tyres too while you can enjoy a coffee in the waiting room. it’s recommended that tyres are rotated approximately every 6 months or 6000 miles.
5. Time for a Change
The time comes eventually when tyres will need to be changed. Pop to your local garage and they will check if they have the correct tyre in stock. If not they can order it in for you and replace your tyre. It’s important to make sure that all of your tyres are in roadworthy condition including the spare. If you’re looking for tyres for sale online, look for a trusted site that sells a large range of brands from official suppliers. For readers based in Australia, I’d recommend using online tyre store, Tyreright. They sell all the top brands including Goodyear, Dunlop and Michelin and have tyres to suit all budgets, driving styles and conditions.
Checking Overall Car Health
Of course, it’s not only our tyres that we need to check on our car. It’s important to care for your overall car health too. Consider buying a scanner or diagnostic tool for car. These scanners detect ‘error codes’, making it easy to isolate and attend to a problem area. This will save you time in getting your car problems diagnosed sooner. If you’re handy with fixing things, this might even save you money in the future as you can fix minor faults yourself.
Summary
Regular tyre checks and trips to your local tyre garage will keep all of your tyres in good condition meaning you can drive more safely to your destination. If all car owners made sure to check their tyres the number of accidents on the road could be reduced and we would all be safer. This also means you will avoid fines, prosecution and keep your car insurance valid. So if you haven’t checked your tyres or chosen a local tyre garage, now is the time to do it!
How do you ensure your car is ready for a long journey? Where will you take a road trip to?
Always use our local garage – we travel to ireland quite a bit to see relatives and tour – would spoil the holiday if the car wasmt up to the trip